Monday, June 17, 2013

Healthy Sauces and Recipes and a Big Dash of Life Mixed In

Loving Mt.Baldy.....

Me and My Love up high in the Sierra's

I believe in life sometimes you have to take a few steps back, and recharge your engine. In my case my engine needed massive recharging to say the least. I think I must have had a sort of mental break down so to say, and needed to just check out. I am incredibly driven, and in many cases can have tunnel vision. All I see is the goal, and I will move mountains if I have to to arrive. I forget about how much I could be driving myself into the ground, and that not one single human can take on a million things at once. Owning so many small businesses can be overwhelming at times to say the least. For me though I thrive off of the drive to succeed no matter what the cost is. I literally visualize the goal, and will stop at nothing to move forward, and achieve what I have visualized. Of course this can be great for the most part. It can also be not so great, and it caused me to drive myself into the ground this last year. The last six weeks have been incredibly amazing for my mental state. I refocused my energy into just having fun. I decided not to sign up for any Summer 100 Milers, and made a commitment to myself that I would just run when I felt like it. I would enjoy time spent with my friends on the trails, and I was focused on playing outside. I love to be out on the trails! I love to run on trails in the wilderness, and I also love to hike. I did both of these things many times over the last six weeks, and never once did I push myself out of my comfort zone. I just kept all my runs at a very mellow pace. I spent allot of time just going out on my own, and running on local trails here in Laguna Beach, and just enjoying alone time. I think many of those days helped me the most. I am so blessed to live where I live, and have the awesome trails I have right out my door. I also took a trip up to Idylliwld/San Jacinto for a few days with Jesse, Chandra, and Kevin... but spending 5 days up in Cedar Grove-Kings Canyon National park did the trick. A huge group of us spent the entire Memorial Day weekend camping up high in the Sierra's, and got in some great high mileage running. It was exactly what this girl needed. Myself and Chandra headed up a few days before everyone else, and it was so fun to camp, run, hike, and just check out. I actually put in roughly 70 miles in five days. Not to shabby! I love to be outside. I love to be in the mountains, and it definitely helped me a ton to get back mentally in a good place. From this point I just kept up the running, and have been doing all kinds of fun runs! I spent one entire week running with Molly in El Morro and Laguna Coast. One week we ran four days together, and it was great! Then I went with Chandra and ran some miles on the Ray Miller course. It was hard to see the aftermath of the fire, but I was surprised to see the trails are all in excellent condition. Wow!! Looks like Ray Miller 5050 will be going strong for 2014!

Then I went to Baldy a couple times by myself, and also with Chandra...

I kept it up with another fantastic run in the Saddleback Mountains with my dear friends Jonathan Toker. He owns SaltStick which is a fantastic electrolyte and salt replacement product made for endurance athletes. I highly recommend it.

I even got to do a run with Corra and Faye!! It was the first time Faye had taken the jogger on a trail, and we had so much fun! Corra is the most wonderful little baby on the planet, and she loves the off road ride in her stroller! I also spent one of my weekends crewing my friend Jeff Browning at San Diego 100 mile, and Jesse paced him. He won! We were so excited. He is such an awesome guy, and it was great to be part of his day. The 100 degree high temps made it a rough day for everyone. Either way it was a superb weekend spent with lots of friends! Then this past weekend Jesse and I went exploring, and found some amazing trails in Forest Falls, Ca. We explored for hours, and found a way to Summit Gregornio a much better way then I have ever seen. It literally was one of the best days I have ever had out on the trails. We were on an adventure, had no idea where or when we would get up to the top, and just had a blast! Going up the way we did via the Vivian Creek Trail was shorter than the usual route so that meant much steeper. Parts of this trail were incredibly steep, and a bit scary. We loved it, and I cannot wait to go back this week sometime and show my son the trails and cool little town of Forest Falls! I have a huge adventurous spirit, and its usually how we find these great trails, and places to explore. We are always doing something crazy and adventurous on the weekends!

. I have also spent quite a few hours on my bike, and it never ceases to amaze me how much fun I have cycling down the coast to Oceanside and back. Its a beautiful ride, and I will go through Pendleton, and back home for a solid 50 mile ride. Its fairly flat, but the perfect ride for me. I am looking forward to doing that today here in just a bit! I have been doing it twice a week lately, and its been great. I also started CrossFit...yes you read that correctly. I love it. Like obsessed love it. Its been a nice change of pace, and kicking my ass! Wow is it hard. Especially after a 4 hour ride. Its been a great addition to my work outs one or two days a week. OK so then the big news came that Tyler was accepted into the United States Air Force. He had his heart set on the Navy, and was actually hoping to work towards becoming a Navy Seal. Life simply had different plans, and when he scored a near perfect score of the ASVAB he was contacted by the Air Force. We have since signed all the paperwork necessary for him to go into the Air Force program once he graduates, and tomorrow he will take his basic physical in Los Angeles. This will be a very long day for him. I am so proud of my son, and honored to be his Mama. So proud!!

So I bet you are wondering when this darn blog is going to have anything to do with cooking, recipes, and so on an so forth. Well as many of you know my other biggest passion in life besides running is cooking. I am obsessed with healthy cooking. I have been for years. I love to cook things from scratch using only the healthiest and most pure ingredients. I believe with all my heart health should never be sacrificed in order for something to taste good, and with that passion I have built another small business in personal nutrition coaching. I believe the biggest problem that people face is most nutritionist's, and everyone else on the planet tend to give people half the tools to succeed. They tell them all they need to do to succeed, but forget the most important part. The actual recipes. For me this is easy, and something I am fantastic at! I will spend hours tooling around with fresh ingredients, and drumming up more healthy and yummy recipes for my clients to use. I specialize in day to day-week to week meal plans, and yes this includes grocery lists and actual recipes. People simply will not be successful if you do not teach them how to be. Give them the tools, but also teach them how to work with the tools you have given them. I am blessed that I love to cook so much, and I have decided from this week forward on my blog I will post a "Recipe of the Week" which will be a new post and include a recipe that I am working on. I am incredibly passionate about the things I stand for and what I am all about. I am passionate about natural health, being fit, getting outside, eating well, and solving problems. In a way this is kind of my own personal mission statement. So below I will end this very long post with my "Recipe Of the Week"....lemme know if you like it! I cater all my recipes using ingredients from a Framers Market, and also Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is affordable. Go to a local farm or farmer's market for your produce, and then buy all your other groceries at a Trader Joe's. You will literally save hundreds of dollars every month. I promise.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Ingredients:1 tablespoon of raw organic coconut oil (natures pure fat burner!)1 large onion chopped 8 cloves of garlic chopped 1 jar of roasted red peppers from Trader Joe's (I roasted my own on my grill, but lord you do not need to as this takes extra time. The already prepared and jarred roasted red peppers work great!)3/4 cup of canned light organic coconut milk from Trader Joe's (please do not buy the soy brand coconut milk. Buy the real stuff in the can!) 1 cup of low sodium organic veggie broth (I make my own, and have it on hand, but no this is not necessary)Big bushel of fresh chopped basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary (trader joe's has great fresh herbs in small packages)Dash of organic sea salt and fresh cayenne pepper Prepare: Heat oil in large pan, and add onion. Heat on medium for 4 mins, and add garlic. Sautee for 2 more mins, and transfer to a food processor or Vitamix. Chop the roasted red peppers into small pieces, and add to the onion mixture. Add all the herbs, slat, pepper, and blend all together until finely pureed. Add this mixture back to the skillet.....

Heat on medium for 2-3 mins, and then add broth, and stir. Follow with coconut milk, and a dash more of pepper. Simmer for 15 mins on low, and its done! This sauce is crazy good on Quinoa. Just cook quinoa per directions on package, and add steamed zucchini and asparagus. If you can have cheese add just a dash of organic grated cheese of some kind, and its quite yummy! I do not eat cheese, but my boys say it pretty yummy! I also will serve this sauce over organic pasta (you can use gluten free quinoa pasta or 100% whole wheat). Jesse and Tyler love it with zucchini and so do I! This sauce can literally be used on anything, and is a great tomato sauce substitute to change things up. I am always looking for ways to change things up, and keep it interesting!So thats it for now....I am off for another amazing week of adventures, and life stuff! I am sure I will see many of you out on the trails. If you ever need my helps in the nutrition department don't be afraid to come calling! I have so many clients right now, and I am loving it! I just love to help you all!! On, On, On with life my friends....now to get on my bike!